Apparatus, and associated method, for selecting information delivery manner using facial recognition

ABSTRACT

An apparatus, and an associated method, selects a manner by which to deliver received information at a wireless, or other electronic, device. A facial recognition indication is obtained and analyzed. Responsive to the analysis of the facial recognition indication, selection is made of the manner by which to deliver the information. If the facial recognition indication indicates the recipient to exhibit a serious demeanor, the information is provided in aural form, thereby to permit delivery of the information without requiring the recipient to read, or otherwise view, the information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/030,001 filed Feb. 17, 2011, and entitled “Apparatus, and AssociatedMethod, for Selecting Information Delivery Manner Using FacialRecognition,” which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to a manner by which to deliverinformation to a user of a wireless, or other electronic, device. Moreparticularly, the present disclosure relates to an apparatus, and anassociated method, by which to select delivery of the information basedupon a facial recognition indication. The information is delivered in anaural manner if the facial recognition indication of the user indicatesthe information best to be delivered in aural, rather than textual, orother, form.

Use of facial recognition permits selection of the manner by which todeliver the information that is most appropriate at the time at whichthe information is to be delivered. When information is received at thedevice, or is otherwise made available for delivery to the user, afacial recognition indication of the user is obtained. And, based uponthe indication, the selection of the delivery manner is made.

BACKGROUND

Cellular, and other wireless, communication systems are used by many.Network infrastructures of wireless communication systems have beeninstalled to encompass significant portions of the populated areas ofthe world. A wireless device, when positioned in the coverage areadefined by the network infrastructure that encompasses a geographicalarea, and permitted access to the network, is able to communicate with acommunication endpoint by way of the network infrastructure. And ascommunications are performed between the wireless device and the networkinfrastructure by way of radio channels defined upon a radio airinterface formed between the infrastructure and the device, no physicalconnection is required to be made to the wireless device to provide forthe communications by and with the wireless device.

A wireless device used in a cellular, or cellular-like, communicationsystem is often times of small dimensions thereby to permit the wirelessdevice to be hand-carried by, or otherwise carried on the person of, theuser. Due to this portability provided to a wireless device, a user ofthe device is able easily to maintain the device in close proximity, tohave the device readily available when needed.

While early-generation cellular communication systems, and devicesoperable therein, generally provided for voice communications and onlylimited data communication capabilities, successor generation systems,and devices operable therein, provide for increasingly data-intensivedata services. Users of wireless devices increasingly use the wirelessdevices, not only for telephonic communication services, but also toperform the data communication services.

Message services, such as email and instant message services are amongstthe data services that are available and utilized by users of thewireless devices. Such messages typically utilize alphanumeric textualdata that is communicated between the wireless device and acommunication endpoint. The use of alphanumeric, e.g., textual, messagespermits the messages to be viewed at the convenience of a viewer, suchas the user of the wireless device. Particularly when the communicationservice comprises an email communication service, a communicated messageis reviewed by a recipient on an as-desired basis, that is, at theconvenience of the recipient, such as the user of the device.

Recent years have witnessed the introduction and popular usage ofwireless devices that include the capability to have such messagespushed to the wireless device to be available immediately for viewingand, if desired, formation of a response.

Significant attention has been directed towards user interfaces used inwireless, and other, devices that provide for data services. The userinterface provides a mechanism by which a user receives informationcommunicated to the device and also provides a mechanism for theformation of information that is communicated by the device. The userinterface often times comprises a display screen and an input keyboard.In some implementations, the user interface is implemented as atouch-screen display in which inputs are generated by touching thedisplay screen.

Often times also, when a message is received at the wireless device, analert is generated to alert a user of the device of the delivery of themessage. The user of the device, once alerted, is able immediately, ifdesired, to view the received message.

It is in light of this background that information related to userinterfaces for wireless, or other electronic, devices that thesignificant improvements of the present disclosure have evolved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a functional block diagram of a wireless device thatincludes an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary, sensed facial image from which a facialrecognition indication is generated pursuant to exemplary operation ofan implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a message sequence diagram representative ofexemplary operation of an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method flow diagram representative of a method ofoperation of an implementation of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure, accordingly, advantageously provides anapparatus, and an associated method, for delivering information to awireless, or other electronic, device.

Through operation of an implementation of the present disclosure, amanner is provided by which to select delivery of the information basedupon a facial recognition indication. The information is delivered in anaural manner responsive to a facial recognition indication of the userthat indicates the information best to be delivered in aural, ratherthan textual, or other, form.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, facial recognition is used toselect the manner of delivery that is most appropriate at the time ofdelivery. When information is received at the device, or as otherwisemade available for delivery to the user of the device, a facialrecognition indication of the user is obtained. And, based upon theindication, the selection of the delivery manner is made.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, an image detector, such asa camera lens assembly, is provided at a wireless, or other electronic,device. The camera lens assembly provides for recordation, or otherviewing, of an image. A camera lens of the camera lens assembly ispositionable to detect an image of the facial area of the user of thedevice.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the facial image, oncerecorded or otherwise obtained, is analyzed. The analysis is carried outto detect a demeanor of the subject, i.e., the facial image of the user.The demeanor is ascertained by determining a facial configuration ofportions of the facial image. And, by such determination, an indicationof the demeanor of the subject is obtained.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the facial recognitionindication is obtained responsive to delivery at the wireless, or otherelectronic, device of a data message. Or, the facial recognitionindication is obtained at selected intervals. The facial recognitionindication is, obtained at a time proximate to delivery of the receivedinformation in human perceptible form to the user of the device. That isto say, the determination is made, based upon a facial image obtained intime proximity to the time at which the received information is to bedelivered to the user of the device.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the facial recognitionindication is used to select in what manner to deliver the receivedinformation to the user of the device. The selection is made to deliverthe information in a first manner if the facial recognition indicatesthe facial characteristics of the subject to be of firstcharacteristics. And, the selection is made to deliver the informationin a second manner if the facial recognition indication indicates thefacial characteristic of the subject to be of second characteristics.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the information isdelivered in aural form if the facial recognition indication indicatesthe facial characteristic of the subject to be of the firstcharacteristic. And, the selection is made to deliver the information intextual form if the facial recognition indication indicates the facialcharacteristic of the subject to be of the second characteristic.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the selection is made todeliver the information in a first manner if the facial recognitionindicates the subject to exhibit a selected facial characteristic, e.g.,a serious demeanor. And, the selection is made to deliver theinformation in a second manner if the facial recognition indicationindicates the subject not to exhibit the selected facial characteristic.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, a validation or affirmationof the selection is made. The affirmation or validation of the selectionis made prior to delivering the information in the selected manner. Theuser of the device is provided with an indication of the selection. And,in response to being provided with the selection indication, the user isable to affirm or reject the selection. A sensor selects the affirmationor rejection made by the user.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the affirmation detectordetects a facial characteristic of the user by sensing a facial image ofthe user when the user affirms or rejects the selection. The facialrecognition indication is formed through analysis of the sensed, facialimage. The affirmation detector affirms or rejects the selection, as aresult of the analysis of the facial characteristic of the subject,affirms, or rejects, the selection.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the information isdelivered in the selected manner. When the selected manner comprisesaural delivery of the information, the received information is convertedinto aural form for delivery. The conversion is performed, for instance,by a text-to-audio transducer.

Thereby, information is delivered to the user of the device in a mannermost-appropriate for the user based upon the facial characteristics ofthe user at a time proximate to the delivery of the information.

In these and other aspects, therefore, an apparatus, and an associatedmethod, is provided for facilitating delivery of information at anelectronic device. A delivery-type selector is configured to select inwhich of a first manner and a second manner to deliver the information.Selection is dependent upon a first facial recognition indication. Anaural transducer is configured to transduce the information into auralform if the delivery-type selector selects the user delivery of theinformation in the first manner.

Referring first, therefore, to FIG. 1, a communication system, showngenerally at 10 provides for communications with wireless devices, ofwhich the wireless device 12 is representative. In the exemplaryimplementation, the communication system comprises a cellularcommunication system. And, the following description of exemplaryoperation shall be described with respect to the exemplaryimplementation. It should be understood, however, that in otherimplementations, the communication system is implemented in othermanners. And, the teachings of the present disclosure are analogouslyapplicable in such other types of communication systems, both wirelessand wire line.

The communication system includes a network part, here including a radioaccess network (RAN) 16 and a data network 18, such as the internet. Acommunication endpoint 22 is placeable in communication connectivitywith the data network.

Radio communications are made between radio transceiver circuitry,embodied at a base transceiver station (BTS) 24 of the radio accessnetwork and transceiver circuitry, represented by a receive (Rx) part 28and a transmit (Tx) part 32 of the wireless device 12. Information, inthe form of communication signals, is sent by way of radio channels,represented by the arrow 34, defined upon a radio air interface formedbetween the network and the wireless device.

In the exemplary implementation, the wireless device 12 is capable bothof conventional, telephonic communication services and also to performmessage communication services, such as e-mail messaging. For instance,an email message originated at the communication endpoint 22 isroutable, by way of the data network 18, the radio access network 16,and radio channels 34 defined upon a radio air interface for delivery tothe receive part 28 of the wireless device 12. Messages originated atthe wireless device are analogously sent by the transmit part 32 by wayof a reverse route for delivery to the communication endpoint 22. And,voice signals are transduced by the microphone 36 during telephonicoperation of the device 10.

As mentioned previously, a message received at a wireless device istypically made available for viewing by a user of the wireless device.However, there are sometimes situations in which the user of thewireless device should not review the received message in visual form.The wireless device 12 includes an apparatus 42 of an implementation ofthe present disclosure that provides for an alternate manner by which todeliver the informational content of the received message to a user ofthe wireless device. The apparatus is functionally represented,implementable in any desired manner, including hardware elements,firmware elements, algorithm executable by processing circuitry, andcombinations thereof. The apparatus 42 is here shown to include a cameraelement 46, a facial recognition sensor 48, a selector 52, anaffirmation request generator 56, an affirmation detector 58, aspeech-to-audio transducer 62, and a user interface 66.

In operation, when a message is delivered to the wireless device anddetected by the receive part 28, the message is stored at a messagecache 68. And, responsive to the message, an indication is provided,here represented by the arrow 72.

Responsive to the indication provided by way of the line 72, the cameraelement functions to sense or record an image. The camera elementincludes, for instance, a lens assembly, sensor element, and othercircuitry need to sense or record an image. The image comprises a facialimage of a subject, i.e., the facial image of a user of the wirelessdevice or intended recipient of the received message or messages.

The sensed or recorded image, once obtained by the camera element 46, isanalyzed by the facial recognition sensor 48. The sensor 48 operates tosense facial characteristics of the facial image of the subject sensedor analyzed by the camera element. The sensor operates to sense aselected characteristic of the subject. For example, the demeanor of thesubject is sensed based upon the image obtained by the camera element.The determination is made, for instance, by analyzing a plurality oflocations of the facial image. And, based upon the plurality oflocations, the determination is made of the demeanor, or other selectedcharacteristic, of the subject. If, for instance, the subject isoperating a motor vehicle, the demeanor of the subject is likely to beserious. And, the subject would likely be distracted if required to reador otherwise view the received message. Conversely, if the determinationis that the subject does not have a serious demeanor, then the subjectis more likely to be readily available to read or otherwise view thereceived message in conventional manner. By causing selectedcharacteristic to be the seriousness of the demeanor of the subject, anappropriate selection of the delivery manner is made to deliver themessage to the motor-vehicle operator.

The selector 52 is provided with indications formed by the facialrecognition sensor 48. And, the selector selects in what manner todeliver the received message to the user. If the subject is determinedto exhibit the selected characteristic, the selector selects delivery ofthe receive message, i.e., information, in a first manner, here an auralform. And, if the determination is that the subject does not exhibit theselected characteristic, the selector selects delivery of the receivedinformation in a second manner, here a textual form.

In the exemplary implementation, responsive to initial selection of thedelivery type, an affirmation from the user is obtained, particularly ifthe selection made by the selector is to deliver the information inaural form. To obtain the affirmation, the selector causes theaffirmation request generator 56 to cause generation of an affirmationrequest, such as an audible sound generated by a speaker 76 of the userinterface. The audible sound is at a level great enough to permit theuser of the wireless device to detect the sound.

The user of the wireless device, in response, makes a facial contortionto affirm or to reject the selection made by the selector.

The camera element 46 senses the facial configuration of the user, and afacial recognition sensor operates to sense the facial configuration ofthe user responsive to the affirmation request. A determination is madeas to whether the selection is affirmed or rejected. And, theaffirmation detector 58 detects the determination. The detector detectswhether the user has affirmed or rejected the selection. And, detectionmade by the detector is provided to the selector 52. The selector, basedupon the selection and the affirmation of the selection causes thereceived message, stored at the message cache 68, to be converted intoaural form by the speech to audio transducer 62 and then played out bythe speaker 76 if the selection has been made and affirmed to deliverthe information in aural form. If, conversely, selection is made todeliver the information in textual form, the information stored at themessage cache 68 is provided to a display element 82 of the userinterface and displayed in conventional manner.

Thereby, the manner by which the received message is delivered isdependent upon the facial recognition indication formed by the facialrecognition sensor. If the sensed facial configuration is of a firstconfiguration type, then selection is made to deliver the receivedmessage in a first manner, e.g., aurally. If conversely, the senseconfiguration is of second characteristics, the received message iscaused to be delivered in another manner, e.g., textually. The selectionis made without requiring specific user input. Rather, the cameraelement senses a facial indication, e.g., demeanor of the user, andselection is based upon the sensed facial configuration or indication.If, e.g., the sensed indication indicates the user to exhibit a seriousdemeanor, then selection is made to deliver the content of the receivedinformation in audio form. If, conversely, e.g., the user exhibits aless-serious demeanor, the message is delivered in visual form,necessitating viewing of the message displayed at a display element.

FIG. 2 illustrates a representation 92 of an exemplary sensed imageformed pursuant to operation of an implementation of the apparatus 42shown in FIG. 1. The sensed image here comprises a portion of the bodyof a subject including portions of the face of the head 94 of thesubject. The face of the subject is divided into multiple portions 96and points of interest 98 in different ones of the portions 96. Thepoints of interest are analyzed to obtain the facial recognitionindication that indicates the characteristic of the subject, such as thedemeanor of the subject.

FIG. 3 illustrates a process diagram 106 representative of the processof operation of an implementation of the present disclosure. The processprovides for delivery of received information at a wireless, or otherelectronic, device. The delivery of the informational content of themessage to a user is made in the manner determined to be mostappropriate based upon quantitatively-obtained characteristics of afacial characteristic of a user of the device.

First, and as indicated by the block 108, information, such as an emailmessage, is received and detected at the device. Then, and as indicatedby the block 112, the received and detected information is stored. Then,and as indicated by the block 114, a facial configuration characteristicis obtained. The facial configuration characteristic is obtained bypositioning a camera element to sense the facial portion of a subject,the user of the device.

Once the facial configuration characteristics have been obtained, thecharacteristics are analyzed, indicated by the block 116. Then, and asindicated by the decision block 122, a determination is made as towhether the facial configuration of the subject exhibits a selectedcharacteristic. If not, the no branch is taken to the block 126, and thereceived information is displayed at a display element, i.e., displayedin textual form or viewing by a user.

If, conversely, a determination is made at the decision block 122 thatthe subject exhibits the selected characteristic, the yes branch istaken, and an affirmation request is generated, indicated by the block128. And, as indicated by the block 132, a facial configurationcharacteristic of the subject, subsequent to generation of theaffirmation request, is obtained.

Then, and as indicated by the decision block 136, a determination ismade as to whether the subject has affirmed selection to deliver thereceived information in aural form. If not, the no branch is taken tothe block 126. Otherwise the yes branch is taken to the block 138, andthe received information is converted into aural form. Then, asindicated by the block 142, the information is played-out in audio form.After delivery of the information at the block 126 or 142, paths aretaken to the end block 144, and the process ends.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method flow diagram 162 representative of a methodof operation of an implementation of the present disclosure. The methodfacilitates delivery of information at a wireless device. First, and asindicated by the block 166, a first facial recognition indication isformed. Then, and as indicated by the block 168, the first facialrecognition indication is analyzed. And, as indicated by the block 172,a selection is made of in which of a first manner and a second manner todeliver the information. The selection is dependent upon the firstfacial recognition indication. Then, and as indicated by the block 174,affirmation of the selection is detected. And, as indicated by the block178, the information is transduced into selected form if selection hasbeen made, and affirmed, that the information is to be delivered in theselected form.

Thereby, a manner is provided by which to deliver information in amanner that is most appropriate based upon a facial characteristic ofthe recipient. Thus, when a message is received at a wireless device orother communication device such as communication device 10 in FIG. 1,based on a determination of the facial characteristics of a user of thedevice, alerts and notices of the message are managed in a manner thatis appropriate to the facial characteristics, which for instance, whenthe user is operating a motor vehicle, will provide less distraction tothe user from operating the motorized vehicle.

Presently preferred implementations of the disclosure and many of itsimprovements and advantages have been described with a degree ofparticularity. The description is of preferred examples of implementingthe disclosure, and the description of examples is not necessarilyintended to limit the scope of the disclosure. The scope of thedisclosure is defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device comprising: a camera; adisplay; a facial image analyzer configured to determine, based on dataobtained from the camera, whether a subject contains a facialcharacteristic which indicates the availability of the subject to viewthe display; a selector configured to select whether information is tobe delivered on the display, the selection based on the determination ofwhether the subject contains the facial characteristic; and a transducerfor delivering the information in an aural manner when the facialcharacteristic indicates that the subject is not available to view thedisplay.
 2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the displaydelivers the information in a visual form when the subject is availableto view the display.
 3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein thetransducer comprises a text-to-voice transducer.
 4. The electronicdevice of claim 1, wherein the facial characteristic is a facialdemeanor characteristic.
 5. The electronic device of claim 1, whereinthe facial characteristic is a serious demeanor.
 6. The electronicdevice of claim 1 further comprising a confirmation detector configuredto detect affirmation of selection by the selector.
 7. The electronicdevice of claim 6 wherein the confirmation detector comprises a facialimage analyzer configured to detect the affirmation of the selection. 8.The electronic device of claim 7 further comprising an indicatorconfigured to generate an indication of the selection made by theselector and wherein the confirmation detector is configured to detectaffirmation subsequent to generation by the indicator of the indication.9. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the facial image analyzeris configured to determine whether the subject contains the facialcharacteristic based on the facial configuration of the subject.
 10. Amethod for facilitating delivery of information at an electronic device,the method comprising: determining, based on data obtained from acamera, whether a subject contains a facial characteristic whichindicates the availability of the subject to view a display; selectivelydelivering the information on the display based on the determination;and selectively delivering the information on a speaker when the facialcharacteristic indicates that the subject is not available to view thedisplay.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein selectively deliveringinformation on the display comprises: delivering the information on thedisplay when the facial characteristic indicates that the subject isavailable to view the display.
 12. The method of claim 11, whereindelivering the information on the speaker comprises: transducing textinformation into audio.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein the facialcharacteristic is a facial demeanor characteristic.
 14. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the facial characteristic is a serious demeanor. 15.The method of claim 10 wherein selectively delivering information on thedisplay based on the determination comprises: selecting a visualdelivery manner to deliver the information; and generating anaffirmation request to confirm selection of the visual delivery manner.16. The method of claim 15, wherein selectively delivering informationon the display based on the determination further comprises: performingfacial image analysis to detect the affirmation of a selection.
 17. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the determination of whether the subjectcontains the facial characteristic is based on the facial configurationof the subject.